Following divergent views and oppositions on the passage of the controversial Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Bill which is presently at the Senate, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance Senator Ahmed Makarfi has lampooned stakeholders in the maritime sector for failing to come up with their oppositions to the Bill on time.
Following divergent views and oppositions on the passage of the controversial Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Bill which is presently at the Senate, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance Senator Ahmed Makarfi has lampooned stakeholders in the maritime sector for failing to come up with their oppositions to the Bill on time.
Makarfi who led members of the committee on a tour of Custom commands in Lagos yesterday, told journalists at the Tin Can Port that the committee was not aware of any opposition to the bill and that stakeholders were given ample time to make their positions about the bill known so that the committee could incorporate it. He however regretted that some positions were not received by the committee at the appropriate time.
"I am not aware of such opposition, there was public hearing, we listened to everybody, people cannot refuse to follow due process and cry later on, there are some people we expect to make a complain and detailed representation when the process was on, they failed to make physical presence when the process was on, we feel there has to be a reason”, he explained
"If people have been given an opportunity to appear and submit written summations and they failed to do so, for a process that took some five-six months, we cannot after one year say that they have a complaint, he stated".
Makarfi however assured that all inputs that have been submitted in the course of considering the CEMA bill will be considered dispassionately. According to him, the committee is more concerned about the overall interest of Nigerians.
He explained that the 12-man committee is visiting the ports to see the level of jobs provided by the service providers and how they co- relate with the Nigeria Custom Service.
"We want to see whether training programmes are going on, whether there is full deployment of the equipment that needs to be deployed and to interact with them to see the preparedness of each party" he said.
The committee members were accompanied by four Assistant Comptrollers General of Customs led by ACG Tahir Musa.
The Committee which first called at the nation's premier port to inspect scanning facilities was also at the Port Multipurpose Terminal Services Limited (PTML), and the Tin Can Island port, and the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.
The Committee is also expected to inspect scanning facilities at the Seme and Idi-roko borders today after which it will move to Onne and Port-Harcourt ports in Rivers State.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that Senator Makarfi had maintained the same stand last week when the committee flagged-off it’s over sight visit at the Customs Headquarters.
He had assured the top echelon of the Customs that the CEMA Bill will be passed before June, 2013.
He said the bill when passed would permanently address the issue of inadequate funding and ensure “autonomy’’ for the service.
He said members of the upper legislative considered the passage of the bill very crucial to the nation’s economy.
According to him, in terms of priority, the CEMA Bill is second to the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which recently scaled through second reading at the Senate.
Makarfi also hinted that the bill would receive presidential assent because some of the contentious sections in the CEMA Bill had been resolved.
It will be recalled that Finance Minister; Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had raised objections over some sections of the bill, saying it vested too much power on Customs at the expense of the president and the minister.
However, Makarfi told reporters that the president would have “no problem’’ assenting to the present bill, as some of the objections had been captured.
According to him, the committee received 38 objections in writings on the bill out of 48 submissions.
He said, “through discussions most of them (the objections) were settled and only about eight remained for discussion.
“The bill is not for one individual or institution, it is for the country, and, therefore, we believe that the bill as it is when passed will be a good bill for Nigeria”, he had said.
Asked whether NCS would still remain under the Ministry of Finance when CEMA is enacted, he said: “every agency must remain somewhere.
“But the issue is that they will have the autonomy required,'' he said.
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